Boy badly hurt in 2000 Roger Rabbit accident dies

Jan. 26, 2009

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Feldenkrais practitioner Elinor Silverstein helped Brandon Zucker's severely injured brain make new connections with his body during a therapy session in Orange at the HealthBridge Children's Rehabilitation Center. FILE: THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Feldenkrais practitioner Elinor Silverstein helped Brandon Zucker's mind make new connections with his body during a rolling excercise during a therapy session in Orange at the HealthBridge Children's Rehabilitation Center. He died at CHOC Monday morning. FILE: THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Brandon Zucker, shown in a family photo when he was 3 years old, was critically injured on the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin at Disneyland on Sept. 22, 2000. He died Monday morning. COURTESY: ZUCKER FAMILY

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Brandon Zucker posing with Max from "A Goofy Movie" at Disneyland on the day of his accident. COURTESY: ZUCKER FAMILY

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Brandon Zucker with his physical therapist Elinor Silverstein at HealthBridge Children's Hospital in Orange. He died early Monday morning. An autopsy that was completed this morning was inconclusive. COURTESY: ZUCKER FAMILY

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Brandon Zucker, who was injured in Disneyland when he was 4 years old, died Monday morning. An autopsy that was completed this morning was inconclusive. COURTESY: ZUCKER FAMILY

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The Roger Rabbit ride at Disneyland reopened with some modifications to the cars such as a skirt under the cars and doors on the sides. FILE: THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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In this December 2000 file photo, a sign in front of Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride tells visitors the ride is closed. FILE: THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Feldenkrais practitioner Elinor Silverstein helped Brandon Zucker's severely injured brain make new connections with his body during a therapy session in Orange at the HealthBridge Children's Rehabilitation Center. FILE: THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ORANGE -- Brandon Zucker, an Anaheim boy who suffered brain damage after being trapped under the car of a Disneyland park ride in Sept. 2000, which was followed by several changes to the theme park, died early this morning.

At the age of four, the young boy was badly injured when he fell from Disneyland's Roger Rabbit ride and was dragged about 10 feet, trapped underneath another car. He suffered serious internal injuries including a torn diaphragm, liver and spleen. When the 4-year-old's body was crushed by the ride, he went into cardiac arrest and suffered brain damage. He was unable to walk or talk after the accident and was in a drug-induced coma for more than a month - injuries that affected him for the remainder of his life.

“Brandon fought for the past eight years,” said his mother, Victoria Zucker, contacted by phone at her home Monday afternoon. The day Brandon was injured, Victoria Zucker and her family, who lived in Santa Clarita at the time, were celebrating her 40th birthday.

Paramedics were called to Brandon Zucker's home at the 600 block of Frontier Court Sunday morning after he was reportedly having difficulty breathing, said Maria Sabol, spokeswoman for the Anaheim Fire Department.

Now 13 years old, he was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. He was later transferred Children's Hospital of Orange County, where he was pronounced dead at 1:13 a.m. today.

An autopsy that was conducted this morning was inconclusive as to the cause of death, he said.

Wearing Mickey Mouse ears as he boarded the Roger Rabbit ride in Disneyland on Sept. 22, 2000, Brandon Zucker's life was drastically changed. After the incident, he suffered permanent brain damage.

Three months after the incident, the state's Permanent Amusement Ride Section of the Division of Occupational Safety ordered Disneyland to install doors on the “taxicab” cars of the Roger Rabbit ride, as well as a skirt at the bottom of the cars. The state's report also stated that a ride operator first called a supervisor in the break room instead of 9-1-1.

After the 2000 incident, Zucker's family sued Disneyland, a case which was settled in 2002.

Officials at Disneyland Resort said they learned of Zucker's death Monday morning.

Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown released a brief statement, saying "We are saddened to learn of the passing of Brandon Zucker and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time."

Details of a settlement reached in 2002 between Disney and the Zucker family were not disclosed. Some legal experts familiar with such cases estimated it was likely somewhere between $20 million and $30 million.

Less than a year after the incident, Disneyland revamped several of its safety procedures, such as staffing paramedics in the park, instructing employees to dial 9-1-1 directly in case of an accident.

About two weeks after the incident, Disney issued a memo directing employees to dial 9-1-1 directly in case of an emergency. Before that, employees called a central communications center first, where the Anaheim Fire Department was then contacted.

Eight months after the incident, Disney decided to staff paramedics inside the park.

At the time of the changes, Disney officials said the changes were not made because of the Sept. 2000 incident where Brandon was injured.

In 2003, Disneyland launched a kid-friendly safety campaign.

When asked what, if any changes were made to improve safety to the theme park as a result of the Sept. 2000 incident, Brown declined to comment.

More tests will be conducted to establish a cause of death for Brandon, Amormino said.

“His father and I gave him the best quality of life we could,” said Victoria Zucker, struggling to speak through sobs. “He was a great, great son. We love him so much and we will miss him greatly.”

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